Ireland to send more aid to Niger

Ireland is poised today to provide substantial extra funding to the food crisis in Niger.

The Government has already pledged €2m in assistance for the 3.6 million people at risk of famine in the West African country.

Minister of State for Development Co-operation and Human Rights, Conor Lenihan will outline the State’s response to the emergency to date.

He will also present a report by Irish Red Cross chairman and former Foreign Affairs Minister David Andrews, who has just returned from the country.

“The minister is expected to announce further substantial assistance for Niger today,” a government source said.

The humanitarian crisis in the sub-Saharan republic has been caused by severe drought and a locust plague.

The United Nations estimates that 874,000 people are in danger of starving to death, while an additional 300,000 are also in near-emergency need of food.

Most of the deaths to date have been children under the age of five.

Mr Lenihan has rejected recent criticism from Labour and Sinn Fein that Ireland’s aid approach to the Niger crisis has come too late.